Astronomer Dr. Isabel Hawkins's journey to the stars began with two chance moments of enchantment with celestial bodies in her native Argentina. Inspired by the mystery of the sky, she went on to study physics and astronomy in California and then to work for 20 years as a research astronomer at UC Berkeley. Now retired from research and devoted to inciting a love of the stars and sky in young people, Dr. Hawkins reflects on her own initial moments of inspiration, on sharing her love of stars with others, and on how astronomy can, and should, remind us of our connection to one another, under a canopy of mystery.

Have you ever wondered exactly what clouds are made of, or what the difference is between a cumulus and lenticular cloud? Clouds are an ever-present, ever-changing part of our natural landscape. They come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes, and capture our imagination with their endless permutations. Join Exploratorium Senior Scientist Paul Doherty for a live Webcast about cloud physics. Paul will discuss the basic makeup of clouds, and explore some of the aspects that make them such a rich part of our daily lives.

Dr. Laura Peticolas is a physicist at UC Berkeley's Space Physics Research group. She studies the Aurora to learn more about the Earth and the workings of our Solar System. She's currently working with NASA's Mars data to understand why the Martian aurora looks the way it does. In this podcast she discusses her research, her inspiration and how and why scientists sonify data.

Thanksgiving Day weather at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, turned out to be pretty interesting, as weather always can change quickly here. Our holiday weekend greeted us with 50 mph winds, but it didnít affect the great feast we had in the dining hall.

Overnight eclipse viewing party at Exploratorium begins July 31, 2008 at
9pm. and continues through Friday, August 1 in the wee hours.

San Francisco's Exploratorium brings its fifth eclipse expedition team to
remote Xinjiang Province in Northwestern China, very close to the Mongolian
border, where the Exploratorium will webcast a total solar eclipse live to
the world. Spend the Night at the Exploratorium! See the eclipse in person
live at the Exploratorium. Pack your sleeping bag and camp out on the museum
floor for an overnight eclipse party...or come to the viewing party in Second Life and enjoy the live webcast, exhibits, and music.

How does the interaction of solar radiation on sea ice effect climate change?
Please join us as we chat live with Dr. Don Perovich, an expert in the fields of albedo effect, and sea-ice mass balance on climate.

Webcasts made possible through
the generosity of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, The Jim Clark
Endowment for Internet Education, the McBean Family Foundation,.and the Corporation for Educational Networks Initiatives in California (CENIC).